


Snapshots

by talibusorabat (hermitcave)



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-01
Updated: 2012-05-01
Packaged: 2017-11-04 15:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/395465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitcave/pseuds/talibusorabat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every picture has a memory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eilowyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilowyn/gifts).



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| “Stand still!” Sally said, trying to look stern while she fought back a smile.                 |

| “Just snap it already and be done with it!” the Doctor protested.                                 |

| “All you’ll be is a blurry mess unless you stand still.”                                                  |

| The Doctor crossed his arms, but trembled with repressed energy.                             |

| “Why do we have to do this every time?” he sulked.                                                     |

| “Because,” Sally told him, “I want to save the memory.”                                               |

| “Why save a memory when you could be MAKING one?”                                               |

| “Not everybody has the memory of a 900 year old Time Lord,” she said primly.           |

| “You can’t even hold one lifetime’s worth of memories?” The Doctor shook his head.  |

| “How do you live inside such tiny little minds?”                                                            |

| She sighed, and quickly snapped the picture. “Let’s go. And don’t make me remind    |

| you who managed to cut himself open on a loaf of bread this morning.”                     |

| “It was a very sharp loaf.”                                                                                            |

|-————————————————————————————————————————- |

|                                                      PARIS, 1776                                                           |

|-————————————————————————————————————————- |

  


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| The frozen tundra sparkled, the light bouncing and reflecting so that the ground   |

| seemed to be made of rainbows.                                                                             |

| “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.                                                                                  |

| “I knew you’d like it,” the Doctor said proudly. “It’s one of the 18 natural wonders  |

| of the universe. Well, this universe. Depending on what book you look at. It’s really|

| hard to get people to agree on any of them, and everybody has their own list. I       |

| rather  fancy the Linthalian’s list myself, and they’re just bananas for this place.”     |

| He went on to describe the precise scientific reasons behind the field of rainbows,  |

| but  Sally was only half listening. She had already pulled out her camera and started|

| snapping picture after picture after picture. When the Doctor asked if she was        |

| listening,  she snapped a picture of his sulky expression, colored green from           |

| the reflecting light.                                                                                                  |

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

|  CELESTIA, 5019                                                                                                      |

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

  


 

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|-————————————————————————————————————————|

 

| “You realize we’ll be burnt at the stake if you’re caught with that thing, right?”       |

| “We’re still inside the TARDIS,” Sally said. “And I’ve got to save this for my              |

| grandchildren.”                                                                                                        |

| The Doctor scowled and adjusted his hat. “I knew I shouldn’t have bothered with    |

| the costume.”                                                                                                          |             

 

—————————————————————————————————————————

 

|                                                  SALEM, 1692                                                          |

 

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

 

  


 

—————————————————————————————————————————

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

 

| She liked to wander off on her own sometimes. He didn’t understand it — it           |

| seemed like his companions were usually joined to him at the hip unless                |

| something  went wrong (which it usually did). She made sure she never left him      |

| without  something to do. While he drank and danced with the villagers in their      |

| sacred water ceremony, she set off in search of a hut that that they had passed      |

| awhile back. It was old and ragged and worn, yet the heavy evening winds didn’t    |

| seem to move it at all. It reminded her of her grandfather, a crotchety old war         |

| veteran who had seemed as though he would live forever until one day he was gone.|

| She snapped pictures of the fraying edges, the dusty corners, and fondly                 |

| remembered his rusty smile.                                                                                     |

—————————————————————————————————————————

|                                             MEMEAO, 7732                                                            |

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

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|-————————————————————————————————————————|

| He didn’t realize she was there when he found the kitten - a bedraggled little        |

| tabby who may or may not have seen better days; it was difficult to tell beneath     |

| all the grime. But that didn’t seem to bother the Doctor one bit.                              |

| “Look at you! Poor little thing.” Gently, very gently, he picked the little creature up, |

| and it must have been tame at some point because it raised only a faint, squeaky   |

| protest. “The mean streets are no place for cutie pies like you.”                               |

| She had never heard him baby talk anything, not even actual babies, but there        |

| he was, snuggling the filthy kitten in his arms and tickling it under the chin.           |

| “You hungry, little one? Let’s get you some food. Some nice, tasty food. And a bath.|

| You’d like a bath, wouldn’t you?”                                                                              |

| He was bound to remember she was there at some point; she quickly pulled out      |

| her camera to snap a picture of this moment before he could get self-conscious.    |

—————————————————————————————————————————

|                                   THE DOCTOR AND TABITHA                                                   |

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

  


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|-————————————————————————————————————————|

| She brushed her fingers against the rough, aging wood. “Have you ever thought     |

| about giving her a paint job?”                                                                                  |

| “What?”                                                                                                                    |

| “The TARDIS. Her color seems to be fading a bit.”                                                    |

| “She’s not ACTUALLY  a wood box, remember. She’s a ship. This is all just part of   |

| her disguise.”                                                                                                           |

| “Yes, I’ve noticed she blends in so well wherever we go.”                                          |

| He ignored the jibe. “It would be silly to paint her,” he continued. “That’s what her  |

| chameleon circuit is for.”                                                                    |

| “So why don’t you freshen her up a bit with the chameleon circuit?” Sally asked.       |

| “Yes, well, you see, it doesn’t exactly work. It’s kind of a bit stuck the way it is.       |

| But that’s your charm, isn’t it, old girl?” He patted the side of the ship                     |

| affectionately.                                                                                                          |

| “She could still use a fresh coat of paint,” Sally told him.                                          |

| “I thought you liked old, worn things.”                                                                     |

| “Fair point,” she admitted. She watched him pet the ship gently, and thought          |

| how sweet they looked.                                                                                           |

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|                                      THE MAD MAN WITH HIS BLUE BOX                                     |

|                                           (And proud of it!)                                                           |

|-————————————————————————————————————————|

  


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|-————————————————————————————————————————|

| “You can’t talk to her,” the Doctor said firmly. “She can’t see you or know you’re    |

| here. I’ve had enough of people crossing their own timelines.”                                |

| “I won’t and she won’t,” Sally promised. “I just want to see that she’s happy for      |

| myself.” Despite all the time traveling and aliens and general weirdness that her    |

| life had acquired, she still had trouble sometimes accepting that her best friend     |

| was gone, had been whisked away to the past to live out an entirely different life    |

| and had found happiness there. She had the letter, still carried it with her,              |

| but words could lie.                                                                                                 |

| The TARDIS misjudged the time, of course (more likely the Doctor had failed          |

| to calculate it properly), and they found Kathy an old woman. Sally felt rather like   |

| a stalker, hiding among the trees, peering at her friend from the shadows.             |

| The old woman was surrounded by a herd of laughing, romping grandchildren -    |

| the kind of family she had always wanted.                                                               |

| She snapped a few pictures and left them on Larry’s doorstep.                               |

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|                                      She lived happily ever after.                                                |

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End file.
